The World in a Microchip
by Rival Argentica
Summary: Fiske has a favour. He wants the Starlings to create a virtual reality where the Cahills could play Truth or Dare safely without having to send Nellie's kitchen blasting off into the exosphere. This is a perfectly safe way for the Cahills to have fun…right? Unless the microchip is corrupted and they're stuck in a virtual world playing truth or dare forever, that is. For 39addict101
1. Chapter 1

_-OMG GUYS! This archive is ALIVE! I was just so glad when I went online and suddenly I saw lots of new stories! Kyaaa!_

 **Written for 39addict101's** Cahills' Online Chatroom Contest **. This…is not exactly a chatroom, or even a valid entry, but, it's the best and most original I can think of, so I have no choice but to just roll with it. Also please don't kill me for being late, 39addict101. RL is first priority. So I just have to love her for extending the deadline.**

The guidelines were simple—all child clue-hunters and the Rosenblooms must be there (simple, huh?), Jamy and Natan and any rating are perfectly allowed, OCs are a no-no, humour is a required genre, a story format must be in place, and, the rule that breaks my heart the most: Amian could only be one-sided. That honestly drained my tank of inspiration just a bit, but here I go.

 **39addict101 said, 'You can customize it so that it would be yours.' This particular allowance made me think for a moment, and my thinking came up with this. I know I'd get disqualified for not making it a chatroom if I weren't already disqualified for being late, but I've always been that lone rebel in the corner. ;)**

 **Note: This fic is a bit wacky, so don't take it seriously!**

* * *

The World in a Microchip

* * *

The Cahills. Ah. They were the family that started it all. They were a family so influential that they had shaped the course of history of the world. There was not a single war or achievement that did not somehow involve someone who had the superior Cahillian blood running through their veins.

It all began when Gideon Cahill made a serum so powerful it became the primary object of huge volumes of histories hidden beneath the codes of all the world's wars. It was the very thing that separated the family itself into four branches that had been in much turmoil ever since—hostilities had never been silenced until each branch got the serum, the _power_ , that it wanted.

Grace Cahill. She was the family's influential matriarch who had instigated such a hunt so that the 39 Clues, safely hidden from underneath the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, the diaries of Anne Frank, the music sheets of Wolfgang Mozart, the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche, the crimes of Jack the Ripper, the writings of William Shakespeare, and the physics of Stephen Hawking, will finally come alive.

So with the bang of the gun, the Cahills had dashed into a race around the globe, tricking, double-crossing, and maligning one another just so they would get the Clues that they wanted, scrambling over the power that they had lusted for so much.

That hostility, however, calmed down with the mission of the Madrigals.

But the peace never lasted. The Cahills would always, _always_ have war on their hands. Unbeknownst to the Cahill generation of the 21st century, a secret organization known as the Vespers have been making their move even while the whole family was in a chaos scrabbling for the Clues. The Vespers had struck the Cahills in a war unimaginable, but in the end, it is the Cahills' will, strength, determination, _unity_ , that triumphed over evil and saved the whole world from imminent destruction and inevitable mass genocide.

Crazy, right? But it's true. They've done it all.

However, though, as Fiske Cahill observed all his thirteen nieces and nephews, he realized that there _was_ something that the Cahills hadn't done for a very long time.

 _Nothing._

And he'd never seen them all so _bored_.

"Ah, everyone!" he began trying to cheer them up with the bounce in his words. "I have a brilliant idea to light up this summer afternoon! How about we play truth or dare?"

"Urgh, Uncle Fiske, _please_ ," whined the one and only, Jonah Wizard. "Can't y'all think of something new?"

"Yeah!" agreed Hamilton Holt. "No offense, but we've done that already for like a million times and I'm _not_ doing that game like ever again. That's just, like, soooo old-fashioned."

Fiske recoiled. Kids calling him _'old'_?

"NO!" said Jonah, jumping out of the couch and gesturing wildly. "I said I need _ideas_ , bros! Those JW Pez dispensers and Gangsta Pop-up Books are really cool and the Wiz Lollipops are selling like hotcakes on the market, but my bashers say I gotta do something that appeal to kids more. Come on, give me _ideas_ , guys!"

Ian cleared his throat, apparently having noticed Fiske's discomfort. "Jonah, please, respect for the elders. Even though we may have been Lucians, the 'snakes', if you will, at least Natalie and I do everything with grace, poise, and absolute elegance—"

And the double-doors suddenly exploded with an earth-shattering blast and out came the cackling wild witch who poisoned Snow White.

" _And THAT is what you get for putting mustard in my luggage, you contumelious cretin!"_

Everyone stared at _the_ Natalie Kabra, who was laughing and slapping her knees like she really meant it in such an unladylike way that it shamed even Ian.

"I…take that back."

"My pants, _my PAAAAANTS!_ " came the screaming of Dan Cahill. He burst through the doors and pushed past the laughing Natalie, all the while frantically tapping his fiery buttocks. "Aahhh, they're burning, they're BURNING!"

" _Burning?_ "Ian looked incredulously at his sister. " _Natalie!_ "

The girl innocently examined her nails. "What?"

" _Dan!_ " suddenly screamed a panicked Amy, hysterical for her brother's welfare. "What have you _done?"_ Then she glared at everybody else. "Don't just watch there, everybody, get some—"

"Water?"

The offer suddenly came from behind her, and Amy looked at the two boys that had caught her heart—Jake Rosenbloom and Ian Kabra, who now held two pails of water that forced her to choose who among them she _should_ choose.

She blushed a thousand shades of red. "I-I…erm…"

But before Amy could decide, though, Ham had already splashed a bucket over at Dan and his burning behind, halting the screaming and drenching him in water from bottom to top. All the Cahill cousins scrambled worriedly over the wet boy.

"What just _happened_ , yo?" said the baffled Jonah.

"Dawg, are you alright?" said the concerned Hamilton.

The Starling triplets, however, remained seated on the same couch like Siamese cats, yawning like they were still bored out of their minds.

"Classic."

"Typical."

"That's what you call normal."

The Holt twins were more enthusiastic about it, however.

"That was AWESOME, Dan!" cheered Reagan.

"Do it again, do it again!" urged Madison.

Natalie smirked, held up a dart gun, and sauntered over to Dan with a deadly grace. "Oh, _gladly_."

Dan immediately drew back, frightened. "No, get that woman away from me!"

"Hey!" protested the Starlings.

"What the—" gasped the Holts.

And in no time, Dan was running around wildly in the living room while Natalie chased for him. Once more the Cahills were plunged into utter chaos as every person tried to calm those two fighting grammas down.

"Natalie, stop behaving like a vulgar East Ender!" scolded Ian. " _Get here_ this instant!"

"Dan, if you don't _stop_ ," threatened Amy, "I'm going to _burn all your baseball cards collection!_ "

" _Dan!"_

" _Natalie!"_

"Amy, NOOOO!"

"What? Jake?"

"Atticus…"

"Ian—"

"Natalie."

"Ooh, a roll call!" said a Holt twin. "Madison here!"

"Reagan!"

A punked up girl was just passing by. "Well, I don't know what's going on, but this sounds like fun. Nellie!"

Amy groaned. " _Guys—_ "

"Ned."

"Ted."

"Sinead."

Amy looked at her incredulously. "You _too_ , Sinead?"

"I'm gonna _HAMMER_ y'all to bits! Get it? Huh? Anyone get it?"

"And don't forget da Wiz!"

"Your dear Uncle Fiske!"

"Mrrp."

" _STOP!"_

Everyone's heads—including Saladin's—veered over to Amy.

Satisfied of the silence, Amy sighed. "Okay, Uncle Fiske, you see what happens when we're not even doing _anything_? Playing truth or dare will _burn_ this house, and I don't want to spend another nineteen million rebuilding Grace's mansion."

Fiske thought that Amy couldn't understand. "But Amy, my dear, playing games will strengthen your bond as Cahills and—"

Amy was quick to retort. "No truth or dare, no double dare, no dirty double dare, no Would You Rathers. I'll only allow the playing if it doesn't put the house on fire."

"How about Scrabble? Chess? Monopoly? Those are peaceful games." People nodded in agreement at that.

Amy put two fingers at her temple in a desperate attempt to calm her blood pressure down.

"Sinead, the last time we played scrabble, Dan ended up drowning in the pool and we had to confine him to the hospital for two weeks because of the water in his lungs."

"Hey! That's was _Natalie's_ —"

"And the last time we played chess, Dan threw the bishop and made a hole in our 52-inch flatscreen TV."

"Natalie CHEATED!"

" _And_ the last time we played monopoly, the FBI, MI6 and the CIA all came bursting at our door thinking there was an emergency because _a certain dweeb who_ _shall remain unnamed_ had called them over."

"Ooo, I wonder who that is," wondered Dan.

Everyone groaned and didn't even try to think how a seemingly innocent monopoly would lead to something like that.

Natalie shook her head helplessly. "Seriously…"

"What? I _needed_ to call them! _Natalie was bankrupting me!_ "

Amy sighed for the umpteenth time. "The point is, we're not playing."

"Truth or dare?" offered Fiske.

"Uncle Fiske." She looked at him squarely in the eye. "The last time we played truth or dare, Nellie's kitchen exploded."

Everyone looked at Dan.

"Why is it always _me?_ "

"So, with that said…all of you. Get out. I'm still going to clean the now messy living room because of the dweeb."

Jake approached his girlfriend with a hand. "But Ames—"

"Amy, love—"

Amy glared at both Jake and Ian. "I said _out_."

—o—

And so, that was why dear Uncle Fiske is at a great distress. He wanted the Cahill children to play. He wanted them to have _fun_. But Amy had a point—every time they play, they would always get into such an unnecessary disaster that often involved Dan almost getting killed.

They were Cahills, after all.

But Fiske thought that it shouldn't always be that way. Even if they were Cahills, they were also _children_. They should spend their childhood and teenage days without the stress of saving the world from a devastating catastrophe every time. Amy, at the tender age of sixteen, always worried about the welfare of her brother that she'd go so far as to prevent him from playing a game as dangerous as scrabble. With all that had happened in the past, the paranoia had fixed her into place and prevented her from being a child again.

That was why Fiske had the brilliant idea of summoning the Starlings to his office.

"So?" asked Ted. "Why did you call us, Uncle Fiske?"

Fiske looked at the triplets gravely. "I want you to build a virtual reality and program it so that you and all of your cousins could safely play Truth or Dare."

" _Huh?"_

"And remember," smiled Fiske, "to make it fun."

* * *

 **I'm sure you already know where I'm going with this. ;)**

 **Mind dropping me a review?**


	2. Chapter 2

**I really apologize for the lack of description in this. I'm just a little uncomfortable because I've never written something like this before…until the force called 39addict101 came to push me. XD (Don't worry, I mean that good-naturedly.)**

* * *

Amy – **sisterus Dorkus**

Dan – **masterprankologist039**

Ian – **Ian Kabra**

Natalie – **Her Beautiful Highness**

Sinead – **E = mc^2**

Ted – **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator**

Ned – **Nikola Tesla II**

Jonah – **william Shakespeare**

Hamilton – **beefyhamburger**

Reagan – **AyeKickYouHard**

Madison – **IPunchUHard**

Jake – **Resident of Atlantis**

Atticus – **Aristarchus of Samos**

* * *

Amy fluttered her eyes open. Huh…so she'd been asleep? And when she stood up, she noticed that her surroundings were…

Nothing. Just a plain, stark white.

 _Where…?_

Once this first word registered in her brain, though, suddenly, she heard a beep from the back of her mind.

 **Amy Cahill** is online.

… _huh?_

And then the voices flooded in her head.

 **AyeKickYouHard** : Amy!

 **IPunchUHard** : AMY!

 **beefyhamburger** : Ames!

 **Nikola Tesla II** : _Amy?_

 **william Shakespeare** : Yo! She's alive!

 **masterprankologist039** : she is?! FINALLY!

 **masterprankologist039** changed **Amy Cahill** 's username into **sisterus Dorkus**.

 **masterprankologist039** locked **sisterus Dorkus'** username with a password so that no one other than him will ever be able to change it back. MUAHAHA!

 **sisterus Dorkus** cannot believe that she was hearing all these things inside her head.

 **sisterus Dorkus** is going to hyperventilate.

 **sisterus Dorkus** is panicking.

 **Ian Kabra** : Love, are you alright?

 **sisterus Dorkus:** No! Why can I hear all your voices inside my head? And what are these usernames that keep popping up in my _head?_ Who is _william Shakespeare?_

 **Nikola Tesla II** : That's what's freaking her out?

 **william Shakespeare** : Yo

 **sisterus Dorkus:** What? _Jonah?_

 **E = mc^2:** Ames, calm down. We're in a virtual reality.

 **sisterus Dorkus** thought for a while. The only person who'd ever use Einstein's famous formula on the theory of relativity for a username would be…

 **sisterus Dorkus:** Sinead?! _A virtual reality?_ Can someone explain to me what's going on?

 **beefyhamburger:** We're going to PLAY!

 **IPunchUHard:** That's right!

 **AyeKickYouHard:** And we Tomases are going to kick all you guys' BUTTES!1

 **AyeKickYouHard:** *butts

 **sisterus Dorkus:** Play? I thought I told you all that no playing is allowed! And why is my username sisterus Dorkus? I don't know why I even care, but it annoys me. Dan, change it back!

 **masterprankologist039:** No can do, sisterus Dorkus. *insert grinning emoji* you are trapped in the classification of a rare species called a _Sisterus_ and a genus called _dorkus_ …

 **Nikola Tesla II:** YEAH! AND WE'RE TRAPPED IN _HERE_ FOREVER!

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator:** In a virtual reality where we're NEVER GOING TO GET OUT!

 **Her Beautiful Highness:** And it's all that Starling girl's fault! Argh! I'm going to STRANGLE you once I get my hands on you! (But don't worry, Sinead, my fingers are tendered to personally by me and my mother's manicurists in France, so at least your death's certificate's going to read: asphyxiated by a fashionista. You lucky girl, you.)

 **E = mc^2:** What the hell, Natalie? Are you insulting me?

 **Her Beautiful Highness** : Oh, Sinead, my dear, have I done a heinous crime?! Why, are you going to report me to Scotland Yard now?

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Wait, guys, let's not fight—

 **E = mc^2:** Well, why don't YOU try creating a virtual reality, huh, Prada girl? Let's see how you'll even manage to build a microchip with those Lee Press Ons of yours!

 **Her Beautiful Highness:** Why, you DARE insult my nails when all YOU have in your wardrobe are those pathetic excuses of clothes you call _jeans!_ How absolutely horrid.

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator** agrees with **Her Beautiful Highness**.

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator:** Hey, Sinead, you're one to talk! At least we don't build microchips that aren't CORRUPTED.

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Everyone, calm down—

 **william Shakespeare:** Yeah! I still have a photoshoot coming on and I'm running late! Get me out of here!

 **william Shakespeare:** Who the hell is that trinitrolluene guy?

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator:** T.E.D., to spell it out for the idiots.

 **Aristarchus of Samos:** Well this place is cool, but I'm really spooked out now.

 **Resident of Atlantis** : I can hear all your voices in my head…

 **Beefyhamburger** : Yeah ikr? This is so freakin cool

 **Beefyhamburger** : And I can speak to you, like, TELEKINESIS

 **E = mc^2:** *facepalm*

 **E = mc^2:** It's telepathy, you giant _idiot._

 **Beefyhamburger** : Whaa? Did I do something to you now sinead?!

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Please, let us just try and get things together—

 **IPunchUHard** : Amy's awake now, right? That means everyone's alive! What do we have to do?

 **AyeKickYouHard** : COME ON LET'S PLAAAY!

 **sisterus Dorkus** sighs exasperatedly and decides to try one more time.

 **sisterus Dorkus:** EVERYONE, PLEASE—

 **Ian Kabra** decides to take the reins of leadership from **sisterus Dorkus** like the gentleman he is.

 **Ian Kabra** : Everyone, please, for the love of Gideon and Olivia, shut up.

 **sisterus Dorkus** did not like **Ian Kabra** questioning her leadership.

 **Nikola Tesla II** : Yeah, why don't YOU shut up, you Cobra? Ever tried getting stuck in a virtual reality and you have no other choice but to FREAK. OUT?

A clamour of agreements burst out from everyone else that was just so typical of the Cahill cousins fighting like there was no tomorrow.

"Sinead, take us BACK!"

"I don't know how! The microchip is corrupted!"

"Argh! We're going to die!"

"That's what you get for not properly debugging the code!"

"Ned and Ted, you're SUPPOSED to be siding me, right?"

"WRONG!"

"my photoshoot! My concert!"

"YES! MY BEAUTY SLEEP! MY _NAILS!_ "

"AND MY INTERVIEWS! _I have to get outta here!_ The razzi's gonna go nuts!"

" _Natalie's_ going to go nuts."

"Shut up, _Daniel_."

"What the—you're shutting ME up?!"

And the chaos continued.

 **sisterus Dorkus** is growing annoyed.

 **sisterus Dorkus** is now officially annoyed.

 **sisterus Dorkus** : EVERYONE SHUT UP!

The said chaos died down.

 **sisterus Dorkus** sighs in relief. Finally. Silence in her head.

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Alright, first things first. Let's have a roll call and see if everyone's fine. Amy Cahill here. Say your name to let me know who you are.

 **The Cahills** begin their roll call.

 **masterprankologist039:** I'm your awesome ninja bro

 **Ian Kabra: .**

 **Her Beautiful Highness:** The Queen of England, Natalie Hollingsworth Kabra

 **E = mc^2:** Sinead

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator:** Ted

 **Nikola Tesla II:** Ned (Because Tesla is better than Einstein. I don't understand why the world venerates Einstein too much. Ugh.)

 **Nikola Tesla II** is in agony.

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator:** Uh, excuse my embarrassing brother, he likes underappreciated scientists.

 **beefyhamburger:** Ham ;)

 **beefyhamburger:** Er…define 'venerates'

 **william Shakespeare** : Yo

 **AyeKickYouHard:** Reagan (the younger twin)

 **IPunchUHard** : Madison (the awesome twin)

 **Aristarchus of Samos:** Atticus

 **Resident of Atlantis** : Jake

 **Resident of Atlantis** : That's everyone, Ames. :)

 **sisterus Dorkus** sighs in relief.

And then **sisterus Dorkus** notices something.

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Anyway, Jake? Resident of Atlantis? That's a…erm…a r-r-really cute username.

 **sisterus Dorkus** and **Resident of Atlantis** are in a relationship.

 **sisterus Dorkus** hearts **Resident of Atlantis**.

 **Resident of Atlantis** blushes.

 **Resident of Atlantis** : y…you really think so?

 **Ian Kabra** suddenly breaks **sisterus Dorkus** and **Resident of Atlantis** ' relationship.

 **Ian Kabra** : Please, not in front of the children.

 **AyeKickYouHard:** huh?

 **IPunchUHard** : what's happening?

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Nothing, Reagan, Madison, really.

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Ian, please don't go around breaking people's relationships. It's really annoying.

 **Ian Kabra** : Well, at least I'm not as inelegant as that cheap Rosenbloom you're dating. At least now I know why you never wanted me. Honestly, love, such shoddy taste.

 **Resident of Atlantis** decided that he should probably feel offended by that.

 **Resident of Atlantis** : Shoddy?!

 **Resident of Atlantis** : Ian, I haven't done anything to you, so lay off of me!

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Jake's right, Ian, please. Stop being such an immature little jerk.

 **Ian Kabra** feigns shock and disbelief. _A jerk?_

 **Aristarchus of Samos** : *shocked emoji* Whoa…

 **Ian Kabra** : Amy, love, I…I never thought you'd…

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Oh, you better think I have, Ian.

 **sisterus Dorkus** is feeling quite confident today.

 **Ian Kabra** is heartbroken.

 **william Shakespeare** :whoa

 **william Shakespeare** :never thought ames could even have such sass

 **Ian Kabra** : Quite right, dear Jonah.

 **Ian Kabra** : 'An immature little jerk'?

 **Ian Kabra** : That burned, love.

 **Ian Kabra** : Just like your _parents_.

 **william Shakespeare** : !

 **william Shakespeare** : O.O

 **william Shakespeare** : aaaaand the Cobra lashes back an INTENSE counter-attack

 **AyeKickYouHard:** QUICK! someone call the fire truck!

 **IPunchUHard** : He just hurled her a massive FIREBALL!

 **E = mc^2** : Whoa. Ian…?

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator** : Burned past the laws of thermodynamics, indeed.

 **Beefyhamburger** : Never thought he had the guts…

 **Her Beautiful Highness** is feeling overjoyed for her brother.

 **Her Beautiful Highness** : Oh, sweet Luke Cahill! Ian, you finally did it! You actually insulted Amy! YES! You've moved on!

 **Ian Kabra** rolls his eyes.

 **masterprankologist039** , however, is apparently NOT happy about **Ian Kabra** insulting his **sisterus Dorkus**. Only he had the right to do that.

 **masterprankologist039** : YOU'VE MADE AN ENEMY,, COBRA

 **Ian Kabra** : Ah. How I cower in fear from your threatening…threat.

 **masterprankologist039** did NOT like being taken as a joke.

 **masterprankologist039** : I'M GOING TO KILL YOU

 **masterprankologist039** : JUST YOU WAITER

 **masterprankologist039** : *wait

 **masterprankologist039** : argh stupid spellchecker

 **Ian Kabra** : Everyone, this is not really the time. Let's try dealing with the matter at hand, shall we?

 **sisterus Dorkus** wondered if Ian would ever get over with the fact that she was in love Jake.

 **sisterus Dorkus** clears her throat and decides to follow Ian's lead.

 **sisterus Dorkus** : So. We're stuck in a virtual reality?

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator** vehemently disagrees.

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator** : Well, that's a really immature name to put it, but yeah. We'd want to get out, but—

 **Nikola Tesla II** : -BUT we _couldn't_ , because Sinead's corrupted microchip wouldn't let us take our bandannas off of our heads.

That was the only time that **sisterus Dorkus** noticed the white bandanna tied onto her head.

 **E = mc^2** : Amy, that bandanna is what keeps your body in the real world alive. Don't take it off, because if you will, you'll die.

 **sisterus Dorkus** thought that that was probably going overboard.

 **sisterus Dorkus** : What? But why?! And what do you mean real world? Then where am I now?!

 **E = mc^2** : Everything here including us is nothing but code.

 **masterprankologist039:** That's really awesome, right? Like, THIS IS A GAME OF LIFE AND DEATH LIKE OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG THIS IS SO LIKE THE AWESOMEST MMORPG EVER

 **Aristarchus of Samos** : This place kinda makes me feel like I'm a Maze Runner or something…

 **beefyhamburger** does not understand who **Aristarchus of Samos** is.

 **beefyhamburger** : huh? Who the heck…?

 **Aristarchus of Samos** : Oh, oh, oh! Didn't you know? Aristarchus is probably the first person EVER to assume the possibility of heliocentrism, _centuries_ back before Nicolaus Copernicus was able to prove that the Earth actually circled the sun! Isn't that amazing?!

 **Beefyhamburger** is dumfounded.

 **Beefyhamburger** : Er…define heliocentrism.

 **Aristarchus of Samos** : Well, heliocentrism is—

 **william Shakespeare** : yadda yadda yadda WE DON'T NEED A HISTORY LESSON, MATE

 **masterprankologist039** is shocked.

 **masterprankologist039:** MATE?! ATTICUS?! _JONAH WIZARD?!_ You… you MATED?!

 **masterprankologist039** is having an asthma attack.

 **william Shakespeare** : o_o

 **william Shakespeare** : —_—

 **william Shakespeare** : O_O

 **Aristarchus of Samos** : What?! NO!

 **Her Beautiful Highness** : _Daniel!_ That's just…that's just…ugh

 **Her Beautiful Highness** is discombobulated.

 **masterprankologist039** does not understand **Her Beautiful Highness** ' feelings.

 **AyeKickYouHard:** LULZ XD

 **sisterus Dorkus** is already getting tired of all this anarchy.

 **sisterus Dorkus:** aurgh, STOP IT, no side comments! Sinead, you say we will die?!

 **Resident of Atlantis** : Calm down, Ames, just as long as you don't take that bandanna off of your head.

 **sisterus Dorkus:** Then how are we going to get out of this place?

 **E = mc^2** : I'll let Uncle Fiske explain everything.

 **E = mc^2** initiates the program via voice command.

 **E = mc^2** : Uncle Fiske? Yes, yes, this is Sinead. Everyone's awake now.

 **The Cahills** are open-mouthed. "Uncle Fiske?!"

"Hello, my dear nieces and nephews."

 **sisterus Dorkus:** What? So Uncle Fiske is stuck in this world too?

 **E = mc^2** : No, he's in the outside world. I'm contacting him so that the kids would not panic with an adult around.

"Uncle Fiske!"

"Where did you put us?!"

"Take us back!"

"Why am I stuck with this devil woman?"

" _Who are you calling a devil woman?!"_

"YOU, you ugly…little… _gnat!_ "

"Shut up, you pinheaded idiot!"

"Moron!"

"Dweeb!"

" _Dan!"_

" _Natalie!"_

"WHAT?!"

Everyone groans.

 **Beefyhamburger** : Phew. My ears hurt from all that shouting.

 **E = mc^2** : Technically, Hamilton _Dolt_ , you can't even hear them, it's all in your _head_.

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator** and **Nikola Tesla II** burst out laughing.

 **Beefyhamburger** feels embarrassed from being picked on by the Starlings.

 **william Shakespeare** : Don't mind them, Hammy. The Starbucks triplets are just a bit grumpy.

 **E = mc^2** 's interest is piqued.

 **E = mc^2** : Did you _say_ something, Wizard?

 **william Shakespeare** : What? Is that an E- _kat_ I hear? Oh, sorry, dudette, but I can't hear yer meowing over the loud colour of your cheap _pants_.

 **Her Beautiful Highness** guffaws.

 **Her Beautiful Highness** : At last, someone who I can agree with!

 **E = mc^2** : Oh yeah? Or maybe it's because of the loud stupidity of your cheap songs.

 **william Shakespeare** : O.O

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator** and **Nikola Tesla II** burst out laughing again.

 **william Shakespeare** : insulting my songs? That's a low blow, yo

 **E = mc^2** : Aw, did I step on the Wiz' itty-bitty feewings?

 **sisterus Dorkus** : *facepalm

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Here we go…

 **william Shakespeare** : …

 **william Shakespeare** : All hail Queen Starbucks for having the wit of a Facebook comment.

 **E = mc^2** : You know, why don't _you_ try putting on that crown. Oh, you can't, because your head's too _large_.

 **Beefyhamburger** sends **william Shakespeare** an _I Know That Feel, Bro_ meme.

 **Ian Kabra** just couldn't figure out how on Earth topics managed to drift into this.

 **Ian Kabra** : Well, children, if you're nearly done playing, I believe our dear Uncle Fiske would like to give us his explanation.

But the chaos didn't stop. The Cahills continued on arguing.

And arguing.

And arguing.

 **sisterus Dorkus** : _STOP!_

And they stopped arguing.

 **sisterus Dorkus** sighs once the silence, which she knew would only be temporary, settled.

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Okay, Uncle Fiske. Explain.

—o—

From the world outside the microchip, Uncle Fiske flinched. He was seated in front of his computer, and he could see from all thirteen separate windows the frightened, confused, and befuddled faces of his poor nieces and nephews.

But most of all, the stress in the voice of Amy Cahill.

The poor girl had thought of nothing except bringing order to the chaos known as Cahills. Fiske thought that it was a responsibility that took its toll on her innocence, her childhood, her teenage. That was why he thought that she and the other Cahills should go play in a virtual reality where playing was perfectly safe. But by doing so, he had instead brought them into danger.

Sinead Starling had accidentally created a corrupted microchip for the virtual reality game which she and her brothers had worked on for a full two days. When it was finally done, Fiske had insisted that everybody should try it on immediately. At the time, they didn't know that the microchip had any defect. So Fiske had assembled the Cahills all in the living room, and, once gathered, nodded his head at the Starlings to initiate the signal.

And so Sinead, Ted, and Ned came out of their hiding and shot everybody with the dart guns they stole from the Kabras. However, this time, it did not contain any poison—instead, it contained a sedative that was mixed with nanotech. The sedative immediately knocked the Cahills down two seconds prior the shooting, and in no time everyone in the living room was sound asleep. Amy had put up a bit of a fight, but eventually even the Last Man Standing would have to go down. And then, smiling over at themselves, the Starlings shot each other and they fell asleep onto the floor.

The nano robots in the sedative would automatically travel through the bloodstream and towards their victim's brain, where they would attach themselves and connect the person to the main computer—thus bringing the person alive into a virtual reality, where their flesh, words, and thoughts had completely disintegrated into code.

Before Amy came to her consciousness, the rest of the Cahills were already arguing against each other, demanding to be released from this technological prison. Sinead had proudly said that they could wake up into reality with a simple voice command—"Let me out." After all, she was the one who programmed this world.

A cascade of "Let me out!"s had poured from the Cahills' mouths once Sinead had said that. But when all of them still remained inside the virtual reality with nothing happening, that's when the Starling boys noticed that something must be wrong.

That Sinead must have overlooked that the microchip is actually _corrupted_.

"So we're NEVER going to get out of here?!" shrieked the Cahills all at once, nearly exploding each other's heads with the intensity of their thoughts.

Sinead then privately contacted Uncle Fiske from the outside world. She told him that they were stuck in this virtual reality world and they would probably remain in here…forever.

But, she said, there was one thing they could do to get out.

They would have to play through the game they had designed, and come out of it alive. Because once you're dead in this game, you're dead in the real world. This is a game that they should take seriously, because their life is on the line.

Uncle Fiske merely groaned when he heard that phrase again. _Lives on the line?_

All he wanted to do was that the children could _play safely_ , for Gideon's sake.

His niece Amy Cahill would surely be angry at him for instigating such a stupidity, putting them all in a virtual reality game where they're lives would be all in danger.

—o—

 **sisterus Dorkus** groaned when she heard the explanation.

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Okay…so we're just going to have to play this game, right? And if we come out of it alive, we'll be able to wake up in the real world, right?

"Yes," she heard Uncle Fiske say in her mind. Everybody must have heard it too, because the silence in her head indicated that the fact they were going to have to risk their lives for some stupid little game was just starting to sink in.

And it was sinking in _hard_.

Except for **masterprankologist039**.

 **masterprankologist039** : AWESOME! So we're going to play this game—SERIOUSLY! YES! FINALLY WE ALL GET TO DO THIS THING!

 **Everyone** groaned.

"My _concert_ …" whined Jonah.

 **E = mc^2** : Oh, suck it up, Wizard. We have more problems to deal with.

 **sisterus Dorkus** : Okay, so first off, we need to get out of here alive by playing this game and winning it through the end. That should be easy, right? I mean, Sinead, Ned, Ted, you designed an easy game, right?

There was silence.

 **sisterus Dorkus** was worried by the silence.

 **sisterus Dorkus:** Um…hello? Sinead? Ned, Ted? You heard me, right? The game you programmed was easy, right?

Ned was becoming quite uncomfortable.

 **Nikola Tesla II** : Er…Uncle Fiske said we should make it fun.

 **sisterus Dorkus:** Fun _and_ easy, right?

Ted was becoming quite uncomfortable, too.

 **Trinitrotoluene Ekat Detonator** : Er…the game we designed was actually just truth or dare, so….

 **sisterus Dorkus:** Ah, so it's only truth or dare? Phew, that's a relief then. Let's get this game started. I want to get out of this place already.

 **masterprankologist039** groaned exasperatedly and decided to just blurt out the fact that everyone was trying so desperately to hide from Amy Cahill.

 **masterprankologist039:** No way, sisterus _**DORKUS**_ , what's the fun with an easy game? The Starlings MODIFIED Truth or Dare with the danger levels reaching over AWESOMENESS! Amy, dear sis, get ready to run for your life.

Okay. Amy decided that she should be scared right now.

 **E = mc^2** : Well, Uncle Fiske. Push the button now.

From the world outside the microchip, Fiske obeyed.

—o—

Amy's empty white world suddenly disintegrated and she watched with wide-eyes as tangible things began to take form from this empty virtual reality world.

And when it was done, she realized that she was stuck in a Maze. A place where there are high rising blocks of metals that crossed one another and created a world similar to that of James Dashner's _The Maze Runner_ —the Starlings must have thought it cool to adopt his world. Under Amy's feet was gravelly soil, and overhead was the blue sky—but all around her, there were only walls.

Walls, walls, and more walls.

She suddenly heard Dan's voice beep inside her head.

 **masterprankologist039:** OMG this is so cool! So, how do we play this thing?

* * *

 **I know, this is terrible, but I'm meeting a deadline to finish this today, so…**

 **Gotta go to work!**


End file.
